PETITE STYLE TIPS _ How to Look Taller and More Balanced This Summer!

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53 Video Views·May 25, 2024
I am 155 centimetres, or 5 foot 2,
and so whenever I put my outfits together,
one of my aims is to always appear taller,
more balanced, and just more in harmony
with the rest of the world.
When we petite women shop and dress ourselves,
there are so many little tweaks and adjustments
that we have to do and think about
to ensure that our outfits are in proportion to our bodies.
And in this video, I am going to share them all with you.
I'm working with Petite Studio today
to bring you these outfits and style tips.
If you have not heard of them,
they are a female-founded company based in New York
that create stylish and classic clothing for petite women.
It's amazing to finally find a brand
that caters to our bodies.
They currently have their Memorial Day sale on,
where you can get 25% off everything.
There's no code.
It will be automatically taken off at the checkout,
and the sale is on until May 31st.
Also, please excuse me
for having to hold my microphone today.
I've gotten comments about how goofy this looks in the past.
I just have to say,
I tried to pin this on myself several times,
but it just flip-flops out of this top,
and I really wanna wear this top,
so you're just gonna have to deal with it.
Believe me, it's more annoying for me than it is for you,
so with that being said, let's begin.
When it comes to looking taller,
one of the key principles to follow
is to create longer lines along your body,
so you want to avoid any visual breaks in your outfit
as much as possible.
There are a few ways to do this.
The first way is to elongate your legs.
Your legs are often the part of your body
that make up the most of you,
and so by making your legs appear longer,
you make your whole body appear so.
Tucking in your shirt or your T-shirt
is often one of the easiest and quickest ways to do this.
You show off where your waist is,
and so that tells the person looking at you
where your legs start and end.
I always opt for high-waisted trousers or jeans.
I find these to be the most flattering on my body
and also the most lengthening.
The higher up your legs appear to start,
then the longer they're going to look.
These trousers from Petite Studio are great,
as the high rise on them fits perfectly on my petite frame.
I love the button detailing,
and they're also elasticated at the back,
so they're really, really comfortable to wear.
Next, you want to avoid anything that's too heavy
in the bottom third of your outfit,
such as these chunky loafers that I have on.
Whilst this isn't a bad look by any means,
the chunkiness of the loafer draws your eye down
and makes you look more bottom-heavy,
which negates the whole lengthening effect of an outfit.
So I've just changed to these brown loafers
for a more slimmer profile on the foot.
You can see more of my foot, which is this tiny change,
but it makes so much difference.
This makes the whole outfit feel less heavy
and less weighed down at the bottom.
Next, I'm going to change my top here.
Not that there's anything wrong with this T-shirt.
A T-shirt is a classic item.
I love wearing this brown T-shirt.
But if our aim is to try and look as tall as possible,
I've changed to this waistcoat.
This is another piece from Petite Studio
that honestly fits like a glove.
Firstly, I love a waistcoat for spring-summer.
It's one of the trends that I feel like
fits really well in my wardrobe.
But the main reason why I changed to this waistcoat
is because it creates more interest
in the top third of my outfit.
I've opened up my shoulders and my décolletage,
and this draws your eyes upwards,
and in doing so, gives me more height.
This top also has a V-neck,
and you can see my necklace sitting in that area as well.
So it creates more of these sort of vertical lines
that draws your eye up.
It's also a little bit cropped,
so you still have the effect of seeing where my waist is
and keeping the long lines of my legs as well.
And so we can see what a difference
all these kind of little small adjustments make
when I put the before and after side by side.
It's such a big difference with just very small tweaks.
Another really simple way to avoid visual breaks
in your outfit is to go monochrome.
Not only is monochrome dressing
one of the best and easiest ways to look together
and put together a really cohesive outfit,
but you also avoid visual breaks
by not breaking up your body with different colors.
And monochrome doesn't have to be black.
I read this so often where,
if you're petite, wear black
and that will make you look slimmer and taller,
which is not wrong,
but it really doesn't have to be black at all.
It's a very rigid tip.
You don't even have to go all exact same shade of color.
But if you just keep the color contrast
in your outfit as little as possible,
so avoid going for like a black and a white
or blue and red, you know, very contrasting colors,
then I think you're good.
So I just changed the trousers to a white cotton pair
to match the white waistcoat.
And I also put on a pair of cream ballet flats here.
What's great is that the shape of these ballet flats
really works to lengthen your body as well.
So the low vamp means that you can see
more of the top of my foot,
and also the pointed toe keeps that line
extending as far as possible.
It's all a sort of optical illusion, if you will.
It's just like these little things
that help lengthen, help the eyes, you know,
move in this direction,
and just keep everything as long as possible.
My next tip is to choose the right lengths.
When it comes to skirts or dresses,
not that there's anything wrong with a midi,
but if the aim is to look taller,
then I would go for either a mini or a maxi length,
not something in between that's going to cut your legs off
at a very awkward point.
A mini dress like this white crochet one
is the perfect example.
There are so many things that I love
about the cut of this dress.
The short length of the dress
makes your legs appear longer.
And as we've discussed extensively,
making your legs appear longer is such a key component
in making your whole body look longer.
The way that this dress is cut
also cinches you in at the waist.
And when you can define where your waist is,
that also gives the appearance of longer legs
because you're able to show where your legs start.
The skirt on this dress is also a slight A-line cut.
So it's not clinging to, you know,
your thighs or your hips,
and it's really comfortable to wear.
This dress also has a high neckline.
So again, it draws the eye upwards
and gives you more height.
Mini dresses and mini skirts are my go-to
when it comes to spring, summer,
and even autumn, actually.
I know that this is going to be a great one
for us pussy women.
When it comes to jeans and trousers,
the right length may depend on your body type
and the type of trousers or jeans they are.
But from my experience,
the best length for jeans or trousers
is right on the ankle bone.
Here, I'm wearing my favorite high-rise,
straight-cut jeans,
which is my favorite type of jeans to wear.
And they fall right on the ankle bone.
I find that this creates a really nice,
elongated silhouette
that is both modern and classic.
However, I also understand that sometimes
this length can seem just a tad too long.
And so if you do want to go for more
of a cropped silhouette,
I would go maybe half an inch above the ankle.
To keep an outfit feeling too heavy at the bottom,
it's really helpful to show the top of your foot.
Showing that little bit of skin
just keeps your whole outfit feeling lighter
while still keeping that sort of elongated silhouette.
I find that these lengths work really well
with basically most of the shoes in my wardrobe.
So I can wear them with sneakers or sandals or boots.
One of the most commonly asked questions that I get
is how do you wear oversized clothing as a pussy woman?
We often get told that we can't,
but honestly, it's a big lie.
We can.
Like majority things that we have to wear,
there are just a few tips and tricks that we can apply
to make sure that we aren't just completely swallowed up
by oversized clothing.
Firstly, let's take this maxi dress from Petite Studios.
It's not only a maxi dress,
but it's also a very loose design,
which we often get told that we shouldn't wear.
We're often told that we need to define
where our bodies are so that we're not drowned out by,
not drowned out, that doesn't make sense.
We're not drowned by all the fabric.
But actually, the way that Petite Studio
has designed this dress is really,
really good for us petites.
So the length of the dress is definitely maxi,
but it's not to the floor.
You can still see your ankles and your feet.
Because your ankles are often so small
in comparison to the rest of your body,
by showing them off,
it balances out the rest of how big this dress is.
I've also styled this dress with some strappy sandals.
I really wouldn't wear anything too chunky on the feet here
with this type of dress.
These sandals are absolutely perfect.
Of course, you could wear a heel with this kind of dress
to give you more balance in proportion.
If I'm being realistic,
I'm more likely to wear a flat shoe and not a heel.
So I wanted to show you a flat sandal
and not cheat by giving you the physical height.
This type of Barely There sandal
is perfect for this type of dress.
Because, again, the dress is so voluminous and heavy,
and also it's in a dark color,
wearing a sandal that is very close to my own skin tone,
it's in that Barely There style,
it's almost like you can't see it,
just keeps everything else feeling light
in contrast with the dress.
And because the shoulders and the arms are out,
this, again, balances out the whole silhouette.
And apologies for saying balance
about 100 times in this whole video,
but that really is how you need to think
about your whole outfit.
So if you think about your outfit as a scale,
you have the top third of your outfit,
your shoulders and your arms.
There's no fabric on them,
so they're out and they're light.
Then you have the middle portion,
which is the heavy, voluminous dress.
And then the bottom of your outfit,
which is like your ankles and your feet,
we've kept this light as well with the Barely There sandals.
And then so you can see how the outfit is balanced out.
For example, if the dress had sleeves
or fabric along the shoulders, something like this,
then you can kind of imagine how top-heavy it would feel.
But the way Petite Studio has designed this maxi dress
works so well.
Oh, and it also has pockets, which we all love.
Let's talk oversized blazers.
One of my favorite things to wear.
One of the questions I always get asked
is how do I style it on my five foot two frame?
And again, going back to our favorite B word,
it's all about balance and proportion.
If you wear something oversized,
you want to pair it with something smaller or slimmer
to balance it out.
Here I'm wearing a mini dress again.
This is actually the same cut
as the white crochet one from earlier,
but in this denim fabric,
which I think is so fun for summer.
A really easy way to wear an oversized blazer
is to pair it over a mini dress.
This works because again,
the mini dress means that I have my legs on show.
So quite a bit of my body is out.
The oversized silhouette of the blazer
doesn't completely swallow me up.
This is also one of the few instances
that I personally think
that a chunkier sandal works as well.
If we go back to thinking about our outfit as a scale
that we need to balance,
the top half is the heavy half.
So we've got the oversized blazer.
Then we have our legs out,
which is light because there's nothing there.
And then at the very bottom,
we have the chunky sandals with the chunky soles.
And this kind of balances out the top half of the outfit
with the oversized blazer.
It's the opposite of the maxi dress outfit
where the heavy portion was in the middle
and then the light portions were at the ends.
So you can see how so much of it
is where the visual weight is in an outfit
and how to balance it out.
If you do want to wear trousers or jeans
with an oversized blazer,
I would probably go for a slimmer or a straight cut.
And again, it helps to show a little bit of skin.
So rolling up the sleeves of the blazer,
showing your wrists and your forearms,
it just signals that there is a body
underneath all this fabric
and it helps to not feel so restricted inside.
I've also gone with a slightly more cropped pair of jeans.
Again, showing the ankle, showing the top of the foot,
keeping the visual weight light here
to balance the heaviness of the oversized blazer.
And you can kind of see how all these tips and tricks
are all very interlinked and connected.
And once you understand the principle of them,
you can really apply it to any of your outfits.
Baggy jeans or trousers have been trending
for quite a few years now.
I mean, to be honest, it's not really my cup of tea,
but I do have one pair of slightly baggier jeans
that I like to style now and again.
So when wearing a pair of wider or baggier trousers,
you have to remember that the visual weight
is at the bottom of the outfit.
These jeans are high-waisted.
I think the baggier the jeans,
the more high-waisted they should be
to just sort of offset the wideness of them.
And again, it's about the proportion.
So if you make yourself longer,
then you allow yourself to have a bit more width,
if that makes sense.
So I've paired these jeans
with my more slimmer profile of loafer,
which I showed you before.
But because you can't see the top of the foot,
it still feels very heavy at the bottom.
You can see how much of a difference it makes
when I change to ballet flats.
By showing the top of the foot,
the outfit feels much lighter.
So now we have the oversized blazer,
baggy jeans, and ballet flats.
And this isn't a bad outfit by any means.
I would wear this out.
I've worn this out, in fact.
But if, like I've said before,
if the aim of this video is to appear taller,
then this is probably not the jacket I would go for
if I'm styling baggier trousers.
So I've just changed to a more cropped jacket.
It's still a little bit boxy and oversized,
but because it's cropped,
you have a bit more harmony in the whole outfit.
And you can see how much of a difference
just the length of the jacket has made
to the entire outfit.
And that is how I would style
a slightly more oversized pair of trousers.
You can see how all these little changes and tweaks
make such a big difference.
Right, now I have four quickfire bonus tips for you
that I think are really helpful.
Number one, when you get your jeans hemmed at the tailor,
make sure to ask them to sew the original hem back on
instead of just folding under and hemming it there.
This means that it will look like
you've bought your jeans as they are,
and it won't look like you've had them tailored.
I do this with all my jeans,
and it's such a game changer.
Number two, avoid any boots that cut you off mid-calf
as that will just make your legs look so short.
Instead, go for either an ankle boot or a knee-high boot.
Number three, whilst we're on the topic of boots,
you can buy these little heel inserts from Amazon
and put them in any of your flat boots.
Not only does this give you the physical height, obviously,
but it also helps your legs appear slimmer.
And anything that is slimmer or leaner looks longer.
Number four, this is kind of a pet peeve of mine,
but please ensure that your cross-body bag
doesn't fall below your hip.
To be honest, this tip is kind of universal,
as I just think having a cross-body bag
sitting so low on your body just cheapens your whole look.
But specifically for petite girls,
wearing your cross-body bag lower than your hip
is the equivalent of wearing low-rise jeans.
You draw your eyes down, you make your legs look shorter,
and it's just a bad look.
Make sure your cross-body bag is sitting either on your hip,
or I even like my cross-body bags to be quite high,
like nearly on my waist.
These are some things that I do pretty much daily.
You'll notice them now if you look back
and watch any of my old videos.
You'll be able to point out all the little tweaks
and adjustments that I do to my outfits
so that I appear taller.
I really hope that this was helpful for you.
If you enjoyed this video,
then I would love it if you subscribe
so that you don't miss any of my future videos.
I have so much more content coming.
Thank you to Petite Studio for partnering with me again.
I think you'll agree that they were the perfect partner
for this video.
Make sure to go on their website,
check out their new spring-summer collection,
and shop with them from now until the 31st of May
to get 25% off everything.
Everything that I've worn in this video
will be linked below with all the sizes and information.
Thank you so much again for watching.
I'm so grateful that you're here as always,
and I will see you in the next video.
Bye.
